Is this fucking thing on?

[sharpestscalpel]

Attn: Ms. Dr. Emma McCoy of some other goddamn universe

We were conversing the other night and I, rather unfortunately and needlessly in my view, got called away to deal with a so-called emergency. I just wanted to tender my apology for running out on you like that and see if we might pick up a bit where we left off.

You just let me know, ma'am.

Comments

[sharpestscalpel.livejournal.com]

Now see, if I call you Dr. McCoy and you call me Dr. McCoy, we're going to confuse ourselves.

I get the sense that you and your interests have been underappreciated by you and yours.

[emma-mccoy.livejournal.com]

Trust me, I've lived in a house with two Dr. McCoys, including myself, I can tell the difference.

No, I loved my work. The replacement in bone marrow would've wiped out a quite a few blood-related illnesses. And the prosthetics were so lifelike that you couldn't even tell the difference. We helped out a lot of war victims in that time.

[sharpestscalpel.livejournal.com]

Can't blame me for trying, can you?

Sounds like you're quite a bit ahead of us in the prosthetics department. Missing limbs are usually enough to ground a sufficiently ranking officer - or get you killed if you don't rank enough.

[emma-mccoy.livejournal.com]

Freshmen have tried that trick without fail at every semester to poke at my soft spot and it never worked.

Well personally, I was working on involuntary movements. I was still fine tuning reading the signal between the prosthetic part and the human brain. ...They kill in your universe?

[sharpestscalpel.livejournal.com]

And do you have a soft spot?

Involuntary movements.... Timing is the trickiest part of that, I think. I've done a bit of research into the signals that get sent in response to certain stimuli.

Universe here is a hard place, Dr. McCoy. Not a lot of leeway for weakness.

[emma-mccoy.livejournal.com]

I do believe that's classified information. Only one person knows and he's currently dead.

Yeah, the university understood that our little school couldn't handle the entire thing on its own so we had to seek outside help. The actual neurology of it was the hard part.

Beings shouldn't be killed simply because lack of competency in one area. They would potentially be incredibly useful in another area.

[sharpestscalpel.livejournal.com]

So noted. Though I do tend to think of classified information as simply more of a challenge instead of being truly out of reach.

What you need, if you don't mind my saying, is to set yourself back up. There's plenty of research you could get yourself back in on.

Starfleet only values a handful of qualities. You prove yourself valuable to them without pissing off too many people, it doesn't matter so much if you've got all your pieces and parts.

[emma-mccoy.livejournal.com]

I think that's a secret that was literally taken to the grave.

It's all right. If death and being gone for a while taught me anything, it's that I just want to spend more time with my son. So, until further notice, really, I want to stick around where he is. Catch up on a missed out decade, so to speak.

That doesn't sound like the Starfleet I know. Not at all. What sort of universe are you from?

[sharpestscalpel.livejournal.com]

Graves don't always keep their secrets.

Sounds like you got your priorities and you know what they are. Not a lot of people can say that.

Terran Empire, Dr. McCoy. You familiar?

[emma-mccoy.livejournal.com]

Highly doubt you'd get the information.

Of course I have my priorities straight. My family is very important to me. Lenny always came first. That's what David and I always said.

..Terran Empire? I've never heard of it. It's almost like being thrown back into the 3rd century.

[sharpestscalpel.livejournal.com]

I always did like a dare.

My mama was known to say something similar but, ah, I think she meant something entirely different by it.

Ancient Roman Empire exist in your universe? We're kind of modeled on that a bit.

[emma-mccoy.livejournal.com]

It wasn't a dare, Dr. McCoy.

...I'm almost afraid to ask what she meant by that. Did some sort of Oedipus complex happen in your home?

...Oh my...Are we speaking Rome under Caligula's rule? Or Rome under Marc Anthony's rule?

[sharpestscalpel.livejournal.com]

If I only did what people actually dared me to do, I'd never get anything done.

Well, I didn't kill my father, I've got that going for me over Oedipus, at least.

Throw in some Caligula and mix in a generous helping of Nero. Maybe some frontier rule out on the fringe when Caesar was fighting the Gauls. That's a good approximation.

[emma-mccoy.livejournal.com]

Really, there's nothing interesting to look for.

...Oh. That explains why...Oh you poor dear, though.

This Terran Empire sounds absolutely monstrous. How could you live in such an environment?

[sharpestscalpel.livejournal.com]

I don't know, Dr. McCoy. You seem mighty interesting to me.

As for the rest, that's an existential question I don't really have an answer for - it's just the way things are, ma'am. How do you live in your universe? We can debate philosophy if you want, but sometimes you just play the cards you're dealt.

[emma-mccoy.livejournal.com]

Simply because we both share a common enthusiasm about the human skeletal system.

Well, I can't really describe how life goes in my universe. My whole universe was making sure that my boy grew up in a warm and loving environment and David was happy.

[sharpestscalpel.livejournal.com]

Maybe I'm just biased because, while this is a big damn ship, there's not anyone else interested in this particular field.

That's... real sweet.

[emma-mccoy.livejournal.com]

Science is always a uniting field. Like we said before, more kids should get interested in bones.

My family's my whole universe, I told you. Wouldn't trade them for anything.

[sharpestscalpel.livejournal.com]

I know I try to inspire that interest through my own articles.

Inspirational, ma'am. Though I'm slightly more cynical about family, you might understand.

[emma-mccoy.livejournal.com]

My only regret: I wasn't able to publish as much as I wanted to. I'll work on that when things settle down again.

I only hope I've passed that onto Lenny. And yes, you've had such a...god, I can't imagine...should I apologize on my other self's behalf?